Mail-pouch deposit and collection apparatus.



NO. 573355 PATENTED DEU.17, 1907.

r M. 0. DILLEN. MAIL POUCH DEPOSIT AND COLLECTION APPARATUS.

APPLICATION FILED JAN. 16, 1907.

2 SHEETS-SHEET 1.

J8 fl'o aei 628286 2,

PATENTED DEC. 17, 1907.

' M. C. DILLEN. MAIL POUCH DEPOSIT AND COLLECTION APPARATUS.

APPLICATION FILED JANJG, 1907.

2 SHEETSSHEET 2.

I No. 873,735..

WKTFED AT s was earns.

MICHAEL G. DllJLEN, OF SANDWICH, ILLI NOIS Specification or Letters Patent.

MAILYOUCH DEPOSIT AND COLLEGTION A?FABAEUS.

' Eatsnted Dec. 17, 1907.

Application filed January 162-1907.. ,Serial No. 352.580.

To all whom it may concern:

Be a known' that 1, MICH EL 0. name; a

citizen of thellnited States, and resident of Sandwich, county of Dekalb, and'State of Illinois, have invented certain-new and use-- ful Improvements in Mail-Pouch Deposit and Collection Apparatus, of which the following is a specification, and which are illustrated in the'accompanying drawings, forming a part the'swinging-ofthe receiving and delivery arms of the standard'when not in useto a.

position removed from the path of a passing train and its accessories.

The object of .the invention is to facilitate the handlin of incoming and outgoing mails at stations ocated on the? route of rapidly moving trains; and the invention is exemplified in the structure to be hereinafter de scribed and illustrated in the accompanying v drawings, in which- Figure lis a view in elevation of appara tus constructed in accordance with the in "vention, details of a railway track and of a car mounted thereon being shown, the car in end elevation partly broken away and the track in vertical cross-section; Figs. 2 and 3 are plan views showing the apparatus illustrated inFig. 1 in different. positions, a detail of a railway car ap caring in plan section in Fig. 2; Fig. 4 is a etail side elevation of .Fig. 9 shows in with the apparatus.

that'part of the apparatus which .is carried by a railway car; Fig.- 5 is a plan View of the same,- details of the car to which'it is attached a pearing in cross-section; Figs. 6, 7 and 8 re ate to details of the apparatus; and rspective' the preferred form of v mail pouc Details of a railway track having. rails l0,

. and of a car 11 mounted on the rails, are

shown in the drawings. The body 12 of the car has the customary side opening 13 through which its load of mail pouches 15 is received and discharged, and, a s is usual in cars of the kind shown, this openingmay be intermediate its ends.

employed in connection of the car to swing in a horizontal plane in front of the door opening 13. As shown it is provided with journals 17, '18, rotatably mounted on avertical pivot-bolt 19 secured to the wall of the car at 20 and 21.

- A spring 22 is provided for swinging the crane arm 16 on its pivot to a positionparalon the wall of the'car adjacent the pivot-bolt 19, and reacts upon an arm 24 pivotally attach'ed to the rod 23 and having its free end in sliding engagement with the crane arm 16 For swinging the .crane in opposition to the spring 22, to a po'-' sition. at right angles to the wall of the-car, a

car from pne of the journal bearings, as 1' may lie along the inner wall of the ca'r'body when thecrane is extended across the door 13. The hand lever 25, as shown, carries a toothed quadrant 28 mounted on the wallet of its extreme positions, and which is controlled in the usual manner by a grip-piece 2 7 For-engaging and supporting mail pouches collected and deposited by a train when in motion, the cranearm 15 is provided with a head 29, preferably comprising receiving jaws 87 and delivering jaws 38'. As shown formed integral with asleeve 30, which rotatably incloses the end of the crane-arm, and provision is made for securing the sleeve '30 and the jaws 37 and 38 inany one of a plu-v rality of angularly-adjusted positions. To this end a stop 33, having a lug 34 adapted to (Fig. 8) spaced at equal intervals about the inner end of .the sleeve, is fixed in position upon the crane arm, and a spring 31,.reacting the sleeve upon the stop. A crank arm 36 serves for turning'the sleeve 30.

closed by a sliding door is. A bracket-arm or crane 16 is pivotally attached to the sidehand lever25 extends into the body of the spring pawl 26, which cooperates with a,

these jaws .are oppositely directed and are between a collar 32 and the outer end ofthe sleeve, is provided for'yieldingly advancing" 6s lel to the side wall of the car. Preferably this springis coiled about a rod 23- mounted of the crane,.and is turned at an angle, as Is most'clearly shown in Fig. 5, in order that it 'the car for securing the crane-arrn in either "engage any one of a plurality of notches 35 I To prevent articles retained by the receiv- I ing jaws 37 being accidentally dislodged opening betweenthese jaws is guarded by a the opening from the outer end of one of the jaws. The opening between-the deliver ng fixed prong 39 extending inwardly and acr'ossi the p '5 tact with each other, and each of'the springs presents a curved face toward the'base of the opening.

A standard 42, only one of which is shown, is provided at each station along the track where mail is to be. collectedor deposited,

and it rises in-i'a position adjacent the track, preferably from a platform 43 to which it is secured by stays 44. Preferably means are provided at each of the standards 42 for supportinga niaii pouch 15 in position to be collected y the receiving jaw s 37 carried by the railway car 11, and for stripping a pouch from the delivering jaws 38.. As shown an arm 45, pivotally secured to the standard 42 M46 to swing upwardly in a verticabplane from a horizontal position, in which it ex tends above the path of the crane head 22'} and in which it is supported by a shoulder 47 formed on the standard, is provided for car- 25 rying. a mail pouch l5 to be collected by a passing train. '1 his arm has formed at its outer end a pair of forwardly-directed jaws 48, preferably similar in forgn to the delivering aws 38 of the crane head 29, the opening between the jaws being yieldiifgly closed by springs 49 and 50 extending imvardly from each of the jaws, respective .y, to a position of contact, and each of the springs prestmting a curved face toward. the base of the opening between the jaws. A second arm 51. is provided for stripping a mail pouch from the dclivering jaws 38 of the crane head 29. As shown this arm is pivotally attached to the standard .42 below the arm 45 at 52, and has 40 formed upon its outer end rearwardlyalirected jaws 54,. preferably similar in construction to the receiving jaws 37 of the crane head 29, the opening between the jaws being guarded by a fixed prong 55 which projects inwardly across the opening from one of the jaws.

Preferably the arm 51 is adapted to swin downwardly on its pivot from a horizonta position, in which it extends to a point directly beneath the path of the crane head 29,

to discharge its load, received from the jaws 38 of the crane head, at the foot of'the standard 42. In order that this downward movement of the arm 51 may cause the arm l5 to be raised to a position substantially parallel 65 with the standard 42, and in which it is well.

out of the wit of a train running on the rails 10 of the tracli, and in order that the arm 45, when in a horizontal position, Ina r support the arm 51 in a similar position, these arms are operatively connected, as shown, by a.

chain'53, which turns over a pulley 53 carried .by the standard a2 and is joined to the arm dobehind its pivot and to the arm 51 in front of itspivot. Preferably a counterweight -15 is applied'to the apparatus carried by the standard 42,'in order that both of and most conveniently this counterweig secured to the arm 45 behind its pivot;

en" ends by a swivel 57, and at'the outer end. of this chain is mounted a disk. 58, greater in diameter than the width of the openings of the receiving and delivering j awe,

.as 37 and 38.

In practice the crane-ar1n 16 carriedby the, railway car 11 will normally occupy a position arallel to the wall of the car in front of tlie door opening 13, the head 29 be ing turned to the vertical position shown in Figs. 4 and 5 to permit the closing of the door 14;. Before the car arrives at any station at l which it is to deposit and collect mail, an attendant at that station will nn mt a mail pouch, as 15, at the'outer end of the crossarm 45 of the standard 42 by'seeuring the chain 56 of the pouch within the jaws 48 behind the springs 49 and 50. In the meantime a second attendant riding in the car 11 will mount a similar pouch at the end of the crane 16, by securing the chain 56 within the delivering jaws 38 of the head 29, and will then tum the head 29 to a horizontal position,

in which the jaws 38 are directed outwardly from the carand the jaws 3'7 extend Into the car, by operating the crank handle 36. He

will then swing the crane 16 to a position at right angles to the wall of the car by the-use of the hand lever 25, the jaws 37 being then directed forwardly and the jaws 38 being directed rearwardly. The wei ht of the pouch 15 mounted at the end of tie cross-arm 45 of the standard 42 causes the arms 45 and 51 to assume the horizontal position shown by full lines in Fig. l, the arm 51 extendin into a proper position to strip the mail pouc carried by the crane-arm 16 from the jaws 38, and the arm 4-5 supporting its load in proper position to be stripped from the jaws 48 by the jaws 37 of the crane head 29. This position of the parts is shonn in plan in Fig. 3 of the drawings, the corresponding position of the parts immediately after the car 10 has passed the standard 42 being shown in plan in Fig. 2, the jaws 54 and 37 then carrying the pouches previously retained by the jaws 38 and 48, respectively. The mail pouch deposited by the car as it passed the standard and left hanging in the jaws 54 of the arm 51, causes this arm to swing downwardly', thus delivering its load at a convenientlyv accessible position upon the latforin l3. After the car 11 has passer the standard 42, the attendant riding in the car, by operatinglhe hand lever 25, may permit the crane 16' to be swung, by the spring 52, toits normal position across the door opening 13 ot'the car, when, by operating the crank handle 36, he may turn the crane head v car to swing in a horizontal plane, a sleeve rotatably mounted on the arm, mail pouch holding-jaws projecting laterally from the sleeve, and a stop for securing the sleeve in an angularly adjusted position. 4

2. The combination with a pair of rigid receiving jaws having a flaring mouth and a constricted throat, of a baclnvardly-inclined rigid prong carried by one of the jaws and guarding the throat for the purpose set forth.

3. The combination with a pair of ri id retaining jaws having a constricted de ivery opening, of a yielding guard member projecting from each of the jaws to a point of contact within the delivery opening between the jaws, each of such members presenting a rounded face toward the, base of the opening between the jaws forcthe purpose set forth.

MICHAEL C. DILLEN. 

